


Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch

by Andramion



Series: Zine works [7]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Pâtissier Tsukki, kurotsuki zine!, used to be canon compliant until the future arc started but oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 17:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andramion/pseuds/Andramion
Summary: Tsukishima is a successful and - dare he say it - pretty famous pâtissier. His desserts are served across many restaurants in Tokyo and beyond and even his new desserts-only shop is having a great run. So why is it that he's struggling to create a dessert to represent the love of his life?
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Zine works [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/907608
Comments: 14
Kudos: 98
Collections: Kurotsuki Sweetheart Zine





	Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch

If you’d asked him fifteen years ago, Kei never would have believed he’d be attending high class dinners and restaurant relaunch parties by the regular. The world of crisp suits and cocktail dresses seemed as far removed as the possibility of his intelligence dropping to Hinata’s level.

And yet – here he is, accepting champagne flutes from a waiter and watching TV stars chatting with the mayor, listening to an up and coming sculptor talk about the consequences of a postmodern something-or-other. If he has to keep it up for much longer, the other seemingly-impossible nightmare from his teens might become reality as well.

“How are you hanging in there?”

Kei turns and hands Kuroo one of the glasses, sipping his own before replying.

“I’m ready to head out, but I should probably wait until they’ve sent out the samplers.”

Kuroo hums in acknowledgement and looks out over the crowd of people as he drinks his champagne. He normally doesn’t accompany Kei to occasions like these, but Kei does have to say that it’s a nice change of pace to see Kuroo all spiffed up. His hair is an incorrigible mess like always, but it somehow still goes well with the suit and tie.

Although Kei can’t even remember how many of these parties he’s attended by now, they’re really not his scene. He enjoys talking to other people who are enthusiastic about food, but it’s rare for that to be the topic of conversation here. Instead, the venue is always filled with big names, sports stars and idols, talentless rich people delving deeper into their parents’ pockets and the occasional artist _not_ living in their own little fantasy world.

So it’s nice, having Kuroo here. Even though Kei wishes he could reach out and take his hand, Kuroo’s presence alone already makes it a little easier to breathe in the crowd.

“When are those samplers coming out then?” Kuroo asks and Kei smacks his arm, not for being impatient but for being so out loud. “Hey, I’m just looking forward to dessert.” He wiggles his eyebrows and Kei has half a mind to hit him again. Before he can, though, they’re interrupted by the evening’s host.

“Tsukishima-kun, welcome, welcome, thank you for coming tonight! I’m so glad you’re here!” Ayukawa-san is bright and chipper as ever as she hooks her arm through Kei’s, pats his bicep with the other hand. “It’s delightful to have someone so young and talented and tall and _gorgeous_ around.” Kuroo raises an eyebrow and doesn’t put nearly enough effort into hiding how entertaining he finds the situation.

“Thank you for having me,” Kei answers automatically, but of course his words get drowned out by Ayukawa’s excitement when she lays her eyes on Kuroo.

“Oh my, who’s this then? Tsukishima-san, did you bring a friend?”

“Ah, yes this is my… friend, Kuroo-san. Kuroo-san, Ayukawa Kaori-san. She’s La Porta’s owner.”

Kuroo’s smile is wide and beaming and Kei quietly makes a note to thank him when Kuroo manages to move Ayukawa-san from Kei’s arm to his own and lead her into a conversation about the new interior design of the restaurant. Kei still gets baffled by how good Kuroo can be with people, how he can put on this self-assured persona and stick with it for the day.

Kei likes that he knows Kuroo is actually a nervous wreck who can’t keep his cool around his crush. Kei got to experience it first-hand after all, even if that was… he can’t believe it’s already been seven years since they ran into each other again.

Kuroo’s thirty-fifth birthday is coming up in just over two months and Kei has already started planning. Now that his desserts-only shop is up and running and doing pretty well on its own, Kei finally has some more time to go back to the drawing board and design new recipes. Neither of them made a big deal out of their thirtieth birthdays, but Kei wants to do something special this year.

An hour later, the samplers have done the rounds and Kei has sat through several conversations praising the teaser for his new Trio of Chocolates dessert that will be served at La Porta. After escaping to the cloakroom, Kei leans against the wall and waits for Kuroo to finish his conversation with the mayor’s kid. Kei watches him, squatting down and genuinely enjoying his chat with a four-year-old and wonders how someone like that ended up with someone like him.

When Kuroo looks up and sees him waiting, he pats the kid’s head and straightens up, walking over and taking his coat from Kei.

“Let’s go home, Tsukkun,” he says, and Kei decides it doesn’t matter how it happened.

“Let’s,” he says.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ 

A month later, Kei sits in his office, hands in his hair and his notebook a mess of half-finished, half crossed-out ideas.

“I can’t do this anymore, Yamaguchi.”

“Tsukki…”

Kei doesn’t need to look up to know what face Yamaguchi is making on the other end of their video call. Still, he does turn his head to rest his cheek on his arms and he can just about make out his computer screen.

“I thought you already had a bunch of ideas? Didn’t you say you’d started on those?”

Kei sighs and sits up, gesturing at his notebook, then realising Yamaguchi can’t see it from the webcam on his monitor.

“I did, but then Kuroo had to be a wonderful boyfriend and take me away for a quiet weekend for my birthday and now none of these seem right.”

“Oh, right. How was that?”

Kei waves his hand. “Oh, you know, peace and quiet, nature, spa-days and private baths. Wonderful. Which is exactly why none of _this_ ” – he shows his tattered notebook in front of the camera – “is good enough.”

Yamaguchi’s squinty face as he tries to read Kei’s writing is almost funny enough to cheer Kei up.

“Three melons popsicle?”

“I don’t know what I was thinking either,” Kei admits. He turns the notebook so he can look at his sketch, moving his finger to point at the cake before showing it to Yamaguchi again. “The pastel fruit cake wasn’t too bad but… it’s not _Kuroo-san,_ you know. Even if he gets a ridiculous craving for lychees every spring.”

“I still think they’re evil,” Yamaguchi laughs and Kei does feel a little better. “What about the pancakes? They’re a little… normal? For your standard, but they look really tasty.”

“Kuroo loves pancakes on a Sunday morning.” Kei sighs again and puts the paper down, looking at the little sketch he made for blueberry pancakes. “Or any morning really, but I’m not waiting on him every day.” He can’t help but smile a little when he thinks of how Kuroo will stay in bed for long after he’s woken up, pretending to be asleep. How Kuroo still thinks that after seven years, Kei hasn’t figured him out. Though, maybe he knows Kei knows and still lets him, both of them playing along.

“Ah, Tsukki.. I’d love to stay, but I’ve got to be back online for work in a moment.” He looks genuinely sorry and Kei quietly thanks whoever is up there for giving him such a nice friend when he was such a little shit. “I could pretend to be working and call for a bit longer?”

“No, it’s fine, I just need to… get some coffee or something. Get my brain up and running again. Thank you for letting me vent, Yamaguchi.”

“It’s nice actually, to see that even you struggle sometimes.” At Yamaguchi’s words, Kei throws him a look, but Yamaguchi just laughs. “It makes you human, Tsukki. You’ll figure this one out, you always do.”

“Fine, but you’ve used up your quota of sincere moments from me. I’ll see you at four on Friday, right?”

“Yep, see you then!”

Kei stares at his desktop wallpaper for another while after Yamaguchi hangs up, but he doesn’t have any epiphanies before Kuroo gets home. They cook dinner together, cuddle up on the sofa for Kuroo’s murder mystery series. Kei pretends to read his book, his thoughts swinging from a gag cake with black cats to how he can condense the way Kuroo made him feel like a teenager all over again into a dessert.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Tsukkun, do you need anything else?”

“Hmm?” Kei blinks a few times when Kuroo calls out to him. “Sorry, what did you say?” He turns around in his seat by the window, facing Kuroo at their little round dinner table.

“Do you need anything else? From the shops?” 

“Oh, no, I’m fine, thank you.”

He’s frustrated. Kei is so used to skipping straight to the practical phase, he’s never gotten stuck on just thinking up a concept to start with. It’s ridiculous, really. When the idiot duo announced they had gotten into the national volleyball team, Kei had thrown together his orange and blueberry slice idea within ten minutes. It’s still his most popular order across the five restaurants that serve it.

And it’s not like he’s lacking in inspirational memories either. Kei can still perfectly remember running into Kuroo outside the bar Yachi was supposed to meet a blind date. Although it seemed to take Kuroo a second to place Kei with his longer hair, Kei had recognised him immediately.

They’d spent the night catching up, chatting away after Kei had made sure Yachi’s date wasn’t some creep. Although Kuroo did most of the talking, Kei found himself more vocal than normal. He left with a card from Kuroo’s music shop with his number scribbled on the back. That evening, Kei scrolled through his contacts and realised he didn’t even need to update Kuroo’s contact.

Kei jumps at the feeling of something on his cheek and Kuroo laughs when he pulls back from the kiss.

“Earth to Kei, are you alright?” Kuroo takes his hand and Kei’s fingers find their way in between Kuroo’s easily. He tries to shake the memory of falling for Kuroo, hard and fast for the second time, before he does something stupid like telling Kuroo what he’s thinking about. He’d never hear the end of it.

“Sorry, yes, just tired. I need to work on some things for the cafe.” 

Kuroo drapes himself over Kei’s shoulders, hugging him over the back of the chair. “Don’t overwork yourself, alright. You’ve been pulling long nights for a while now.” Another kiss to the cheek and Kei wrestles himself loose a little so he can turn and catch Kuroo’s lips.

“Why don’t you crawl back into bed for a bit, Kei? I’ll wake you up when I’m home from the supermarket.” 

“Normally you’re the one who sleeps in,” Kei remarks.

Kuroo grins, but doesn’t shoot back. Yet. “Remember how Bokuto started Aikido classes last month? I think he’s invited his entire club to my party. I need to get all the non-perishables now since I won’t be able to borrow Kenma’s car next week.”

“Hmmm. You’re still keeping Thursday free?”

“Yes, yes, no guitar lessons on my birthday. I heard you the last five hundred times you asked. You know, one might almost think that you’re up to something, Tsukkun.”

Well. That was the plan at least, but now Kei isn’t so sure it’ll come together. “Just making sure. You’ve been so busy with your students lately that I hardly see you in the evening.” Which has given Kei more time to try out different recipes at home, so Kei is not complaining. “Besides, you’re the schemer in this household, Kuroo-san, not me.”

“How could you!” Kuroo plays his usual wounded act, but his smile breaks through before he disappears into the hallway. He raises his voice as he speaks from the genkan. “I’ll pretend I’m not onto you! Love you, bye!”

Kei grabs his notebook on the way to the bedroom and settles under the blankets, doodling in the margins as he tries to sort his thoughts. He’s got four days left to think of something to make _and_ rehearse what he wants to say. Everything else has been taken care of. Yamaguchi helped him pick out the music, Kei’s mum came along to get the perfect gift when she visited last. He’s got the main course planned out and has even picked his outfit. Kuroo will shut the shop early, come home around five and Kei has cleared his entire afternoon.

Kei looks forward to Thursday. He knows he’s ready for this. He’s thought about it for a long time, and now he can’t wait. The cosy evenings in; the times Kuroo drags him along to hang out with people Kei secretly quite likes; the way Kuroo kisses him; the soft looks, the fast-paced banter. Kei knows what he wants, and now, now he finally knows what he’s going to make.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“That was delicious, thank you.” Kuroo pats his stomach in the same overexaggerated way his dad does and Kei rolls his eyes. “I left some space, though. Knowing you, you’ve got another course coming, don’t you mister fancy desserts man?”

“You know the word is pâtissier.” Kei collects their plates and stands up, only to be pulled closer by Kuroo’s hands on his waist. “Coffee or tea?”

Kuroo nuzzles into Kei’s stomach as Kei tries not to drop the plates on his head. “Coffee in the evening, oh my. Aren’t you being rather forward, my Tsukkun? Trying to keep me awake on my birthday no less?”

“Well, you are an old man now, after all. So?”

It’s ridiculous how Kuroo’s sheepish smile still gives him butterflies. “Coffee, please.”

“Alright, give me a moment.” Kei moves everything over to the kitchen as Kuroo’s phone rings and gets picked up with a ‘hiya, dad’. Kuroo’s dad knows what Kei is planning to do tonight, and Kei just prays he won’t accidentally spill the beans. He plates the desserts while he waits for the kettle to boil, then pours the hot water over the fresh coffee grounds slowly and watches it drip into the coffee pot. One sugar and a quarter milk for Kuroo, two and a dash for himself.

“I’ll get to it soon, Dad, I’m thinking maybe when- ah, Kei’s back.” Kuroo mouths an apology when Kei sets their mugs down on the table, but Kei just gestures that it’s fine to continue his phone call. Still, Kuroo hangs up right as Kei comes back from the kitchen with dessert.

“Dad,” he says, waving his phone and then resting it on the table, face down. “He ah, just wanted to say hi? To you too.”

“Thanks.” Kei moves his chair a little closed to Kuroo’s, sits down and pushes one plate over to Kuroo. “Here you go. Do you remember that I told you I’d one day add something to the menu in your name?” Kuroo looks at the dessert and then back at Kei, and Kei smiles at the confused look on his face. “I thought about what to make to represent you for a long while, but this is what I ended up with.”

“Strawberry shortcake?” Kuroo asks and Kei nods, drying his palms on his slacks. Pathetic, how nervous he is. He prepared for this moment for so long.

“You see, at first, I thought of all the desserts during our… big moments, but I didn’t want to just copy a memory. So I tried to create something original instead. However, it was ridiculously difficult to define you.”

“Well I’m glad you think I’m… sweet?” Kuroo laughs, the pitch a little higher than normal and Kei wonders if his nerves are rubbing off on Kuroo.

“I…” Kei searches for words. How was he supposed to phrase this again? “You see, I could have spent hours and hours to create the most intricate and elaborate dessert made of a thousand components.”

“But instead I am cake?”

Kei huffs and bops Kuroo on the head. “Shut your mouth and listen, alright?” After a deep breath, Kei moves his hand to his pocket, his fingers closing around the little box tightly.

“You see, I love strawberry shortcake. I’ve loved it from the first taste-” He shoots Kuroo a look, daring him to interrupt with a lewd comment. “And over time, I find myself coming back to it over and over. I never get sick of it. In fact, I would love to have strawberry shortcake forever.” Kuroo’s eyes grow bigger as Kei goes on, and Kei reaches out to hold one of Kuroo’s hands over the table.

“Kei… are you-”

“That’s why I chose it. We’ve been together for seven years now, and I still can’t get enough of you. I want to wake up to you every morning and kiss you goodnight. I want you to be a part of my future and share the rest of my life with you.” Kei is having a hard time not letting his smile take over, but then he realises, why should he hold back?

Moving off his chair, Kei kneels in front of Kuroo and looks up at him. “Tetsurou, will you-”

“YES, I’LL BE YOUR STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!”

For a moment, Kei just blinks up at Kuroo’s matching wide-eyed look. Then they both burst into laughter and Kei can feel the last of the anxiety leave him, leaning onto Kuroo’s lap to hide the tears springing up at the corners of his eyes.

“I can’t believe you ruined my proposal,” he says, once they calm down a little and he fishes the silver band from the box with shaking fingers. He lets Kuroo turn his face up, kisses him hard, over and over. It’s real, it happened and it was ridiculous and utterly _them._

Before Kei can move to put the ring on Kuroo’s hand, Kuroo tells him to hold still, jumps up and jogs to their bedroom. For a moment, Kei has no clue what’s going on, but when Kuroo comes back, he puts something down on the table. He clicks the little box open to reveal another ring, nearly identical to the one Kei picked out.

“You ruined my proposal as well, so I think we’re even,” Kuroo tells him, his voice unbearably soft and Kei lets out another laugh. He lets Kuroo put the ring on him, and he slips his onto Kuroo’s ring finger before he gets up, sits back on his chair and admires their new matching look.

They dig into their dessert and for a moment it’s quiet, both of them just looking at each other until Kei has to look away.

“Hey, Tsukkun?”

Kei hums, cutting another piece of his shortcake and watching an extra strawberry being dropped on his plate by Kuroo’s fork.

“Will you be my mackerel pike?”

Kei ignores Kuroo’s horrendous cackling as he stabs his fork into the cake.

“Oh, shut up and eat your dessert.”


End file.
